Driving license in America

Whacker paddy

Travelling to New York and New Jersey for two weeks in May and was wondering if an international driving permit is required or will an Irish Licence suffice? A friend is giving me the loan of a car and I hold a full clean Irish licence.

Thanks in advance

Del2005

I've hited in several states and never needed one. All it is is a certified copy of the licence in multiple languages, so since we both use English a translation isn't necessary.

NSAman

Just bring your driving license.

The issue could be if you are stopped with insurance. If you get some car insurance before you go there should not be an issue. Many insurance companies in the States recognise open driving but NOT international license holders. Get your friend to check with his insurer first. I know we could only find one company in the states who would insure our vehicles for open driving for ALL drivers. Since we have people coming in from Europe it makes sense for us to carry this type of insurance rather than getting hire cars (which are crazily expensive)

Apart from that, I have never needed to get an international drivers license and although only stopped once (yes the pink Irish paper license caused complete confusion to a rather uneducated state trooper) you shouldnt have any other issues driving here.

witchgirl26

Shouldn't be a problem but would agree that worth checking the insurance. I've rented cars a few times in America and never needed an international driving licence. Now my old paper license did cause some smiles when I used it but in fairness it did look like I'd made it at home! Just make sure you always have your license on you when driving over there.

Johnny Red Cab

Most IDPs are issued unnecessarily. It is a pure money making racket for the AA.

coylemj

Johnny Red Cab wrote: »

Most IDPs are issued unnecessarily. It is a pure money making racket for the AA.

+1 and they are deliberately vague about the (non-existent) requirement to have one when driving in the US. They list the US with a qualifier saying that an IDP is recommended because 'some' insurance companies will insist on seeing one if you have an accident. For Canada, an IDP is 'recommended' with no reason given. Complete BS.

ted1

Johnny Red Cab wrote: »

Most IDPs are issued unnecessarily. It is a pure money making racket for the AA.

Nope. I’ve been to places where you need to need to pay for a local permit if you don’t have an international licence.

Oman and St. Lucia both needed one. Or you had to pay 7 euro a day for a local one

Whacker paddy

Thanks to all for the replies

coylemj

ted1 wrote: »

Nope. I’ve been to places where you need to need to pay for a local permit if you don’t have an international licence.

Oman and St. Lucia both needed one. Or you had to pay 7 euro a day for a local one

Nobody said you never need an IDP, the poster you replied to made the point that most IDPs are not necessary. Because the AA are deliberately vague about where you need one.

Anyone ever have a problem renting a car in Canada with an Irish licence? AA says an IDP is recommended.

And anywhere that makes you pay cash because you don't have an IDP are operating a similar racket.

ted1

coylemj wrote: »

Nobody said you never need an IDP, the poster you replied to made the point that most IDPs are not necessary. Because the AA are deliberately vague about where you need one.

Anyone ever have a problem renting a car in Canada with an Irish licence? AA says an IDP is recommended.

And anywhere that makes you pay cash because you don't have an IDP are operating a similar racket.

Not vague at all. The application lists the countries and their rules. Recommend in no way means mandatory

https://www.theaa.ie/~/media/Files/AA-Ireland/Application-Forms/AA_IDP-Application_050816.ashx?la=en

veetwin

ted1 wrote: »

Not vague at all. The application lists the countries and their rules. Recommend in no way means mandatory

https://www.theaa.ie/~/media/Files/AA-Ireland/Application-Forms/AA_IDP-Application_050816.ashx?la=en

That is not accurate. It states a IDP is required for car hire in Croatia which it most certainly is not.

ted1

veetwin wrote: »

That is not accurate. It states a IDP is required for car hire in Croatia which it most certainly is not.

It’s required for you don’t hold a EU licence

https://www.hertz.hr/en/generaltermsconditions

coylemj

ted1 wrote: »

It’s required for you don’t hold a EU licence

https://www.hertz.hr/en/generaltermsconditions

That doesn't explain why the AA claim there is a blanket requirement for an IDP in Croatia. For everyone.

Or why it's 'recommended' for Canada with no explanation why.

They're similarly vague about other countries. Like in Iceland and Portugal ... 'All valid Irish/ EU/EEA driving licences should be accepted'. Knowing full well that a nervous traveller will buy an IDP 'just in case'. Which would be a waste of money.

veetwin

ted1 wrote: »

It’s required for you don’t hold a EU licence

https://www.hertz.hr/en/generaltermsconditions

No it is not. Read that again.

dennyk

Technically if you have a license from any EU country, it should be valid in any country that is a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, without requiring an IDP, as all EU countries are parties to that treaty. However, the US and Canada are *not* a party to the 1968 Convention, so they don't have to recognize EU licenses.

In the US, license acceptance will vary by state, but most technically allow foreign licenses from countries who are a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. Some require them to be accompanied by a translation to English if the license is not in English, however, and an IDP is usually the easiest and cheapest way to get one. An Irish license would likely be fine in most if not all states, though, since the current license includes an English translation itself; you'd still want to double-check the state laws in the state(s) you plan to drive in to make sure, though.

If you are driving in the US on a foreign non-English license (especially one that uses a different alphabet or character set), it would probably be a good idea to have an IDP even if it's not legally required, just to make your life easier if you get stopped by the police. Treaties and laws are all well and good, but the fact is that if a cop stops you and can't make heads or tails of your foreign license because it's all in German or Japanese or something and you don't have a translation on you, it's possible you might find yourself cooling your heels in a jail cell somewhere until the matter is sorted out. Your average traffic cop ain't going to know **** about international treaties, so all they'll see is that you're out there driving around with nothing on you that they can positively identify as a valid driver's license; you'd be taking a gamble that you'd get a decent cop who would take your word for it and not some power-tripping asshole just looking for an excuse to haul someone off to jail.

Boxcar_Willie

Was stopped for speeding in Florida a few years ago , pulled out my driving licence and the International Driving Permit , he was only interested in the permit and never looked at my licence even though that's what I used to hire the car.

Luckysasha

We do a USA driving trip every yearas our holiday. Pink license is fine for hiring a car but one thing i would advise is to take out a car hire excess insurance policy here before you go. The insurance you get with a hire car is basic enough when you read the fine print so for the sake of €80 you can have piece of mind

Johnny Red Cab

Luckysasha wrote: »

We do a USA driving trip every yearas our holiday. Pink license is fine for hiring a car but one thing i would advise is to take out a car hire excess insurance policy here before you go. The insurance you get with a hire car is basic enough when you read the fine print so for the sake of €80 you can have piece of mind

Or just buy the optional insurance from the hire company.

Whacker paddy

Thanks again everyone for advice and replies.

jme2010

coylemj wrote: »

Anyone ever have a problem renting a car in Canada with an Irish licence? AA says an IDP is recommended.

No problem at all. Just the Irish licence required. Sometimes they ask to see passport too, but thats it.

I've rented at least 6 times in the past few months.

Third_Echelon

As you're getting the loan of a car from a friend, he will need to check if you can be added to his insurance.

Some US insurance companies allow a foreign license for a certain period of time, e.g. when I moved to the States, 'Progressive' insured me on a car that I purchased for up to six months on my Irish license. This allowed me to do the California test in my own car. Turns out I only needed to use the 'international insurance' for a couple of weeks. Passed my test soon after. Premium dropped down again as I had my California license.